British High Commissioner to India James Bevan on Monday called on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar, a move being viewed as the first initiative by the United Kingdom to end the decade-long disconnect with the State since the 2002 communal riots.

Mr. Bevan, who later paid a courtesy call to Governor Kamala Beniwal, besides meeting State Congress president Arjun Modhvadia, was with Mr. Modi for about an hour discussing a wide range of issues where Britain could get engaged with Gujarat in the fields of trade, commerce and industry.

The meeting was cordial and both sides showed keen interest in taking the engagement forward, sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said.

Later Mr. Bevan held a media conference here where he pointed out that while his country was now looking at enhancing ties with Gujarat, it would continue to seek justice for the three Britons killed in the 2002 riots, which had caused the end of the relations between the British government and Gujarat.

Mr. Bevan said Mr. Modi had assured justice to the deceased.

The visit of Mr. Bevan, who was only last week directed by the Foreign Office in London to engage with Mr. Modi, is being considered a shot in the arm for the Chief Minister who would be facing the Assembly elections in just about seven weeks. The High Commissioner, however, said Britain had no intention of interfering with the electoral process and he was confident that his visit would not sway Gujarat voters in any way.

Britain, along with the United States, had denied visa to Mr. Modi in the aftermath of the 2002 riots holding him responsible for the violation of human rights.

Mr. Bevan’s call on Mr. Modi therefore attracted serious attention as this was widely being viewed as Britain’s endorsement of the Chief Minister which can significantly alleviate his status as persona non grata across the countries in the European Union and most importantly the U.S. Mr. Bevan, however, made it clear that while the U.K. had taken a policy decision on its own, each country in the EU was free to take its own decision regarding Mr. Modi and Gujarat.

The envoy said a lot had changed since 2002 as Gujarat had emerged as one of the most developed States of the country and when Britain was looking forward to deepen its engagement with India, Gujarat could not be ignored. He pointed out that with the judicial process to bring the culprits of 2002 to justice having already taken off, Britain had decided to re-engage with Gujarat even while attaching great importance to human rights and the rights of the minorities across the world. As a matter of fact, he said, he had also met some human rights activists and discussed with them his meeting with Mr. Modi.

The High Commissioner said he had accepted Mr. Modi’s invitation and Britain would participate in the Vibrant Gujarat investors’ summit to be held in January 2013.

“Only a courtesy call”

Minister of State for Railways Bharat Solanki, however, told journalists in Vadodara that there was no meaning in attaching any significance to Mr. Bevan’s courtesy call to Mr. Modi though the Chief Minister “as per his characteristics” would try to “make a big noise” over the issue to make people count it as “one of his great achievements.”

Of course Gujrat cannot be ignored, but yes it is safer to ignore/forget the events than happened a decade ago. This attitude just reflects how narrow your policies and your thoughts are. There was an interesting piece in the Hindu by Jyoti Malhotra - that pretty much sums up the entire story. "Embracing the darkness"

from:
Jolly Dominic

Posted on: Oct 23, 2012 at 14:28 IST

Mr. Bevan must realize that UK needs Gujarat/India and not vice versa. If he so concerned over communal Riots, he must explain attacks on Indians/Asians on racial basis in UK/Australia/USA which British Government have neither condemened nor have taken any action.

from:
U.Narayan K

Posted on: Oct 23, 2012 at 12:44 IST

It is sheer bad diplomacy to meet political leaders of the state when Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in just about seven weeks.
Heavens wouldn't had fallen or major commercial interests suffered if the exercise had taken place a little later.

from:
MAHENDRA GAUR

Posted on: Oct 23, 2012 at 08:54 IST

who cares whether Uk endorses modi or not, how does it matter to indians. it is us who should decide who our leader should be.western countries change according to their needs. they don't have any principles as they try to show.

from:
ravi

Posted on: Oct 23, 2012 at 08:16 IST

Indians will not be happy with this move of UK unless they clarify what was their misunderstanding before for modifying their earlier views.

from:
C.P.Anand

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 23:18 IST

So after a decade UK legitimise the Gujarat pogrom just for its business sake. No wonder because it did the same thing in the past all over the globe and also doing in some part. Shameless world..

from:
Shauri B P

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 22:53 IST

this is atrocious....in the name of pseduo-secularism the most successful state in the country is being demonized....will the hindu ever write giving a balanced opinion on this issue?

from:
nikhil

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 22:29 IST

so UK is ready to apologize to India for all the massacres and systematic loot that happened under East India company rule and also the partition of India and dividing Indian hindus and muslims through divide and rule policy, that is root cause of even the Gujarat riots.

from:
hari

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 21:37 IST

I'm sorry, did they say 'trade relations'? Are we to assume that only because Britain did not consider Gujarat financially important earlier that it had to banish Narendra Modi..??!! It clearly shows the opportunist and 'truly capitalist' behaviour of Britain. When he was politically and financially 'unimportant', he can be called a mass murderer. The moment he starts making money, the world in willing to overllok his dirty past and he is welcome everywhere...!! Shame on Britain; shame on Modi..

from:
Hemanth Vasudevan

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 21:04 IST

I don't understand why this is a shock to some people. Britain is like a business firm who will do anything for money then why would they avoid Gujarat the most happening state of India. Britain is not an angelical state who will not do business with bad people. Well the british sell military hardware to Pakistan, the french leased nuclear powered submarines to Pakistan,US created Taliban 20 or so years back, wonder why no one was shocked at these events.

from:
Karthik Sekar

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 20:55 IST

It is really a nice move from UK. Both UK and Gujarat and India as whole will gain from this.All know Indian History and what the Great Britain did to our nation. But that doesn't mean that we should not bond with UK. Today world is a global village where every mutual benefits must be harnessed. This is more vibrant in the present Global scenario where all the European Economies have fallen.

from:
Nitin Ranjan Shrivastav

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 20:50 IST

U r happy that the diplomat said this is not endorsement ? No use in harping what happenes 10 years back . How is the state now . Are not all living peacefully . No tears for sikh riot victims or Kashmiri pandits

from:
ganesanr

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 20:46 IST

No surprise here. This is the same country that went into Iraq war under the claim of WMD.

Anything for money.

from:
Punith

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 20:45 IST

Not getting engaged with Gujarat is a loss only to UK and not for Gujarat. many countries have entered Gujarat,in the last 10 years, all of them totally engaging Modi, and many are in the line. Wait and see, US will take the same step, once the election is over there. They all come here for business and not for anything else. Mr.Modi means that.

from:
D DKI

Posted on: Oct 22, 2012 at 20:32 IST

A good sign for Gujarat and Mr. Modi's future. I wonder when USA will grant visa to Mr. Modi. It seems that investment opportunities in Gujarat are not globally visible and tempting.